BY MICHAEL JUGADO and ABBY TORALBA
IT’S a long way to go, literally and figuratively.
Despite assurances coming from top officials of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, the organizing committee is still facing hiccups as it tackles various problems besetting the country’s hosting of the FIBA World Cup.
Two of them — the transportation needs of the players and venue renovation — are still gnawing at organizers less than two months before the event starts.
Local organizing committee deputy event director Erika Dy, giving the media updates on the blue-ribbon world cage spectacle the Philippines is co-hosting with Japan and Indonesia from Aug. 25 to Sept. 10, said preparations, on a scale of 1 to 10, are halfway through at 5.
“With regard to transportation that was simulated yesterday (Tuesday), we had buses from the Grand Hyatt to Araneta as well as to the Philippine Arena, even from Conrad to MOA,” Dy said. “We had to test that even though it was a very short distance. That went well. The Philippine Arena ride was still a challenge, we’re still hoping to save up a few more minutes. Right now, we’re using the bus lane, so we have to coordinate properly with the different bus stops because that was where the clogging was happening yesterday (Tuesday).
“It’s hard to be in the single bus lane because you can’t go out any time so when there are people loading on the buses at the bus stops, we have to stop. That’s something we have to clear up when the actual games begin,” she added.
Despite the hiccups, coach Tab Baldwin of reigning UAAP champion Ateneo, a veteran international tactician who coached in the World Cup and Olympics for New Zealand, is convinced the SBP can hack it.
“I think all of us here know that the SBP can do a good job. Erika Dy is a driving force behind us at the World Cup campaign. There’s no reason we shouldn’t have a great experience here with the World Cup,” Baldwin said after the Blue Eagles turned back defending three-time NCAA champion Letran 90-85 in the SBP Invitational Games last Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“I got a lot of friends in the international community and a lot of them are excited about coming to Manila. It’s kinda the informal home of basketball because of the passion and the population.”
The exhibition matches that featured collegiate teams that also played simultaneously at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay served as test events for the World Cup.
University of the Philippines ripped San Beda University 99-62 also at the Big Dome, while College of St. Benilde down La Salle 88-76 and National University clobbered Mapua University 94-76, both at the MOA Arena.
Dy said there’s still time to fix the country’s hosting woes.
“What we’re really trying to test here is the full traffic, the flow of the different working groups as well as the other clients that we have,” she said. “There are a lot of things that we’ve noticed already that’s not supposed to happen so that’s a good thing that we’re able to flag this early.”
